Bound By The Red String
by MageOnx
Summary: After the fall of No.6, people all around struggle to survive. Rat and Shion are separated in the chaos, but by chosing the same destiny they are yet again to be bound together by Fate's untearable red string...Shonen-ai,2 perspectives, possible fluff.
1. Unending

The sky had long fallen asleep and the unsteady light of countless stars sang soundless lullabies to the people who were slowly drifting into slumber, each exhausted and confused, crouching and stretching over improvised beds, with people whom they never knew until this faithful day that brought so many together, and so many apart. Silent moans after those who were lost could still be heard echoing in the razed streets, reminding survivors of nothing but that they're still alive.

Sion was sitting at the table on the bakery's roof, breathing peacefully as if asleep, although his eyes were still open, staring absently at the stars. He was wearing a pure white shirt that still had a blood stain on it. A soft blanket was covering his legs. An aroma of a freshly baked cherry cake was still lingering over the table, overlapping with the scent of fruit tea that his mother and he had earlier that evening, after they ran into each other soon after it happened. The vibrant light of the stars was being reflected in his red eyes as they thought generously of people and their futures. But the futures that were as numerous as the stars could not hold his thoughts as long as the futures, and even the nows of people closest to him could; the people who were at this point who knows where.

"Sion?" a voice called out to him from the direction of the door that led to the bedroom. He flinched unnoticeably from the feeling of slight surprise the voice arose in him before he would turn to face his mother, who wore an expression that appeared both worried and very happy. "You'll catch a cold if you keep sitting there. It's already quite late." Her eyes glanced over the red stain on his chest just as a moan of a woman crying over somebody's dead body echoed from somewhere in the darkness of the dusty city. Karan flinched nervously, looking in the direction she thought the voice was coming from, only to return her gaze on her beloved son once more, the beloved son who now came back to her alive and well after all those days of desperate hoping and praying for his safety.

"I'll be there in a minute", was Sion's reply. His mother smiled at him softly and nodded her head. "Don't take too long. As the night deepens it only gets colder, you know", she said caringly , gathered the empty dishes as professionally as only a mother could and quietly shut the door behind her as she went back inside. Sion's hand unconsciously pressed against the left side of his chest, following his mother's glance and trying to silence the nervousness he felt after she left. He worried her so much, after all; it was only natural to feel uneasy over it.

Sion let out a loud sigh. He sat there quietly staring at the floor for another minute before getting up. He folded the blanket, placed the chairs in order and went inside, carrying the blanket under his arm.

-XXX-

Karan greeted him with a ready bath and a neatly prepared bed. The little girl who he just met a few hours ago was already sleeping on the top bed. When asked, his mother replied she will sleep with the girl, and that he now has nothing to worry about. A little relieved, Sion made his way towards the bathroom.

"Ah, warm", he whispered pleasantly to himself as he shut the bathroom door behind him. Only now did he notice how tired he actually was. He unbuttoned his shirt slowly and as he started taking it off, he noticed a little hole at the front left side. He stared at it for a while, confused, trying to remember where it came from. "That's strange – didn't I get this blood stain on me when I was helping Rat-?" The memory of excruciating pain that pierced through his heart like a thousand needles suddenly appeared in his mind. He remembered Rat's panicked expression fading before his eyes as all visible sank into ominous darkness. Cold sweat covered his body as he remembered how he died. His legs gave in and he dropped to the bathroom floor, gasping desperately and gripping onto his unharmed chest. The shirt was already lying on the floor beside him. He struggled not to scream, to calm himself down. "It can't be true!" he thought to himself, "It isn't! Aren't I alive right now? Or is it all just a death illusion?" What he didn't feel under his fingertips finally reached his mind. His breathing violently calmed and his eyes hurried to look at his wound which wasn't there. He palpated his chest a few more times before he was finally assured the wound doesn't exist. Swallowing the lump, he picked the shirt up again and found without any difficulty the part where the bullet had torn it. "What is going on?" he thought to himself in confusion.

-CHAPTER #1 ~ UNENDING-


	2. Longing

Rat was sitting on the sofa, reclining after a modest meal, holding a book in his right hand while his other hand hung lazily from the back support of the sofa next to his leaning head. The book's dark cover appeared almost black under the fragile light of the lantern that lingered on the little table before him, along with a plate with nothing but a spoon in it and an old kettle whose contents were covered by a rusty lid. The linen on the bed beside him was neatly stretched and appeared freshly washed. The clothes that he had taken off when he came back were thrown disorderly over it; now he was wearing a dim-coloured, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of simple black pants. These were previously prepared for him, before he would leave to No. 6 and attempt the impossible. Yes, _he_ probably prepared them earlier that day before they went out.

All of a sudden, Rat couldn't concentrate on what he was reading anymore. He glanced over the bed one more time, averted his eyes towards the bookshelves and stared over the lantern into the darkness, as if picturing something that is supposed to be there. He then slammed the book's covers together with the one hand he was holding it in, suddenly very annoyed. He straightened up and laid the book on the table. His glare pierced through the dark-green book cover as his beautiful face frowned over something that was supposed to be irrelevant. Then the intensity in his gaze suddenly let up and his lips stretched, eyes saddened up, forming an expression which was laughing inside at his own stupidity. He placed his face in both palms, leaned his elbows on his knees and sighed deeply.

„Why is it so hard to just be here without him?" he thought. He felt Sion's presence still lingering everywhere in the room; on the neatly made bed, among the bookshelves where he used to line the books up, at the side of the little oven where he used to cook, even on the sofa beside him where they used to drink tea together and talk about pointless things. Before he noticed, Sion somehow managed to slip into his heart and mind and make himself at home there. Soon enough it became natural to have him around, so natural it was almost unbearable to be in the room alone. It felt just too empty. "When", Rat asked himself, "When have I become so weak?"

He raised his head up and moved his hands across his face as when washing it, holding them over his mouth a little longer, before he let his left hand fall down and hang between his spread legs. His right hand's fingertips gently pressed against his lips, and his mind had already sunk into thoughts of their parting day.

"Sion", he whispered into his fingertips, "I really have fallen."

-CHAPTER #2 ~ LONGING-

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><p>So, a slight explanation to you guys:<p>

- Since the story is written in 2 perspectives (Sion's and Rat's) simultaniously, I'll be posting 2 chapters simultaniously. The 3rd and 4th are comming along nicely, so I plead you to be patient. It's my first time writing this heavy a drama, after all, I have to concentrate on all the poetic details, it's not easy. -_-

- Also, you don't have to worry about the lengh of the chapters, since these two so far have both been intro chapters. The next chapters have a lot more going on, so there will be a lot more (poetically dramatic -_-) text. :p Once more, I ask you to be patient with me. XP

- The story is planned to have up to 6 chapters total. Also, Since Word keeps correcting me, I decided to go with the more English versions of the names (including spelling): Sion, Rat, Dogkeeper, Rikiga, Karen, Lily

- And as last, but not least, thank you very much for your time and support!


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